Phi Beta Lambda earns awards at state leadership conference

Radford University students Michael Harris, Sameh Khayat, Amanuel Dereb and Andualem Wordofa were winners at the Phi Beta Lambda State Leadership Conference April 1.

Harris, an economics major, won first place in the Economic Analysis and Decision Making event at the conference held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Richmond. As a result, he has qualified to compete in the organization’s National Leadership Conference in June in Anaheim, California.

Khayat, a double major in finance and marketing, won third place in the Entrepreneurship Concepts category in an individual event.

Dereb and Wordofa won third place in the Web Design competition, a team event. Dereb is a double major in Management Information Systems and Management. Wordofa is a Management Information Systems major.

Fourteen institutions of higher learning across Virginia participated in the competitions.

Phi Beta Lambda is the collegiate division of Future Business Leaders of America.

The students received support for the PBL conference from the Club Programming Committee. The Dean of the College of Business and Economics (COBE) provided travel support for the advisor.

“The students were happy to participate in various competitive events and were extremely proud to represent Radford University. Their winning is a great tribute to the quality of education and the dedication of the Radford University faculty,” said Prahlad Kasturi, who has served as advisor to the Radford University PBL chapter for 15 years and is a professor and chair of the Department of Economics.

PBL, a postsecondary division of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), is the largest professional business association in the world, with more than 11,000 college student members and 3,000 business professionals, alumni and educators. Exclusive membership and career recognition programs are designed for each division of FBLA-PBL to provide additional personal and chapter development opportunities.

The Radford University chapter of PBL is housed within the COBE, which is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.